Over 30,000 children and youth, boys and girls, Arabs and Jews, Israelis and Palestinians have participated in Peres Center activities over the last 20 years.

AFL Peace Team

Project Aim

This unique project unites Israeli and Palestinian young men through Australian Football (AFL), a sport foreign to most in the Middle East. The project incorporates both AFL training and moderated group dialogue, producing a strong team that overcomes many barriers - physical, emotional and language.

How It Works

In 2008 in cooperation with the Australian Chapter of the Peres Center and in partnership with Palestinian organization Al Quds Association for Democracy and Dialogue, the first joint Palestinian-Israeli AFL Peace Team was formed and flew to Australia to compete in an international football competition. This team of men from all over Israel and the West Bank aged 18-35 was such a great success that a second Peace Team was formed in 2011, including many of the same players, as well as newcomers. After six months of intensive training and group dialogue, the team once again flew to Australia, spreading the message of Israeli-Palestinian cooperation and dialogue through sport, to show the world that such teamwork is not only desirable but also possible. The team continues to spread the message of cooperation and AFL, meeting to train and keep the team morale alive, as well as training boys from their own communities through the Twinned Peace Sport Schools program.

This project is supported by the Australian Chapter of the Peres Center for Peace